Senior Knowledge Management Officer

Job Description

IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities. Our mission is to leverage the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), based on its Statute of 1950, the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and subsequent resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, is mandated to provide international protection, assistance, and solutions to refugees and other categories of persons such as returnees and internally displaced people. UNHCR’s mandate also includes preventing and reducing statelessness. The “Global Compact on Refugees” (GCR), affirmed in 2018 by the United Nations General Assembly, and its annexed “Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework” (CRRF) highlight the need to promote the self-reliance of refugees and the need for interventions that simultaneously benefit both refugees and host populations. The CRRF specifically highlights the role of the private sector in refugee-hosting areas as an effective and sustainable provider of services, the main creator of jobs, and a facilitator of growth.

With approximately 120 million people forcibly displaced worldwide and protracted refugee situations presenting unprecedented development challenges, IFC and UNHCR have established a Joint Initiative aimed at enabling sustainable private sector solutions, including through IFC investment transactions and advisory projects, in forced displacement contexts. This approach will target and benefit both the forcibly displaced and their host communities.

The Joint Initiative’s overarching goals are twofold:

1. To enable inclusive economic opportunities for people affected by forced displacement and their hosts by designing, funding, and piloting innovative, impactful, and scalable private sector solutions. The ambition is to mobilize USD 100 million in private sector projects over the five-year lifecycle of the Joint Initiative, and more importantly, to demonstrate the commercial viability of investing in forced displacement contexts

2. To establish thought leadership on private sector development in forced displacement contexts through a strong knowledge base of operational lessons and promoting knowledge exchange among key stakeholders engaged in this space

Responsibilities:

Contribute decisively to the implementation of the IFC-UNHCR Joint Initiative and lead its ambitious Knowledge Management (KM) program. This will include the following activities:
Lead the Joint Initiative’s KM program to build the knowledge, learning, and outreach agenda among key external and internal stakeholders
Develop a KM strategy that will establish the Joint Initiative’s thought leadership in private sector-led solutions in forced displacement contexts
Ensure successful delivery of high-quality and highly relevant KM, Learning, and Innovation (KMLI) work programs; develop and manage a system to track the delivery and quality of such activities
Interact with IFC and UNHCR teams, including but not limited to KM colleagues, to identify internal resources, expertise, and initiatives, and to capture relevant lessons learned and good practices on private sector solutions in forced displacement
Develop, deliver, and facilitate successful knowledge exchange activities jointly with internal and/or external clients or stakeholders
Mainstream the concept of private sector engagement in forced displacement contexts by promoting the visibility of the Joint Initiative and participating in internal and external KM events, as well as utilizing media channels, including social media. This includes identifying and leveraging the most impactful KM platforms and channels
Ensure KM activities are embedded across key activities of Joint Initiatives and that best practices are incorporated into project design and implementation

Operate with a significant degree of autonomy, under the overall guidance of the Joint Initiative Manager
Contribute, when required, to specific Joint Initiative program management tasks

Selection Criteria:

A master’s degree in Development, Economics, Strategy, Business, Knowledge Management, or a related field with a minimum of 12 years of relevant professional experience
Knowledge strategy, leadership, and implementation – the capability to independently identify and assess opportunities to incorporate KM into a broader range of business processes that bring value to the organization and/or clients
Knowledge, learning, and communication – facilitate sharing of best practices, trends, knowledge, and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners, articulating ideas verbally and in writing clearly and compellingly across audiences of varied levels
Culture change, community building, and collaboration – solid understanding of and interest in the theory of organizational change, applying it in the organizational environment and KM activities; proven track record of building and running Communities of Practice
Client orientation – maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge
Drive for results – identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables
Teamwork & inclusion – the ability to collaborate with other team members and contribute productively to the team’s work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view
Proven track record in using new collaboration platforms to engage staff in conversations with internal and external stakeholders and create behavioral change. Comfort with and continuous curiosity for the latest technologies
Self-starter, mature, and flexible personality; able to work in a multicultural, fast-paced, and diverse team environment
Excellent stakeholder engagement skills and proven ability to bridge the gap between the private sector and humanitarian actors, with the ability to lead by influence
Solid experience of living and/or working in challenging business environments and/or in forced displacement contexts will be a distinct advantage
A team player with excellent people and stakeholder engagement skills, a proven ability to work with colleagues from different teams and institutions who are not reporting to him/her and achieve results while meeting tight deadlines and maintaining a strong client service orientation
Strong analytical and presentation skills working with data using standard office software and collaboration platforms
Willingness to travel